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Rebel Alliance by modding company Mnpctech is just one of thousands of amazing modded PCs to be made in 2013.

The personal computer has been a popular household tool for several decades. I’ve been building my own for nearly as long, but aside from being powerful devices for all-manner of tasks, the ability to customize a PC to your personal needs is something that fascinates millions of people the world over.

It’s something you can’t do with tablets, laptops or smartphones – at least not to the same extent. However, some PC enthusiasts have taken this customization to whole new levels.

PC modding is the term given to physically altering a PC – be it cutting or painting the case, adding details or even making a PC case from scratch. People have done this in the past primarily to improve a PC’s cooling, but the customization quickly spread to aesthetics as well.

Eventually, as the number of enthusiasts increased, skilled engineers, metalworkers and carpenters joined the fray with some simply spectacular results.

These days the hobby is so popular that hardware manufacturers commission PC modders to create projects for trade shows and generate traffic on websites and social media, while companies such as Cooler Master hold annual competitions, with prizes for its 2013 competition totaling $20,000 for the best projects.

Many great projects are made using little more than a Dremel rotary tool so if you want to enter you can do so by heading to the competition page.

Below you can see my list of the 20 most amazing custom PCs to come out of the PC modding community in recent years. I'll also be doing monthly updates of the best new modded PCs so be sure to follow me to see them.